


Good Night, Sweet Dreams

by WaifuJuju



Category: Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Aerith is spelled Aeris, Friendship, Gen, Puppet Cloud Strife, Remake spoilers, Sleepwalking, Workin' with the Aeris timeline theory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:28:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24886822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WaifuJuju/pseuds/WaifuJuju
Summary: Cloud has a habit of sleepwalking in the middle of the night, and the team helps out in their own ways.
Relationships: Aerith Gainsborough & Cloud Strife, Barret Wallace & Cloud Strife, Red XIII | Nanaki & Cloud Strife, Tifa Lockhart & Cloud Strife
Comments: 12
Kudos: 190





	Good Night, Sweet Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little idea I've had since the start of the remake! Vague spoilers for later chapters of the remake, and writing under the assumption that Aeris has timeline knowledge. Thank you and I hope you enjoy! (Also no concrit please, just a fun piece of writin'!)

A harsh ringing scrape of metal on metal is what brought her back to the waking world. Heavy, slow footsteps followed, sluggish thuds outside of her door like thunder. Despite the lethargic nature of the disturbance, Tifa jumped out of her bed with a start, her gloves quickly donned without a second thought. 

Even through the heavy fog of barely shaken-off slumber, her thoughts raced against each other in a panic. A monster could have made its way through Sector 7's defenses, her odd, sickly neighbor Marco could have stumbled his way out of his room and hurt himself, Shinra could have finally tracked down the members of Avalanche and had come to silence her. With a stuttering breath, she readied herself for any number of possibilities behind her door.

Yet, when she opened it with a jarring creak, she was met with a stumbling Cloud instead of any foe. 

"Wha- Cloud?" She called, adrenaline and shock keeping her fists clenched and her stance rigid, as though in a vice. 

Cloud was no stranger or opponent in front of her, yet he might as well have been, given his lack of recognition or halt of his wooden steps. The Ex-Soldier was staggering away from his room, the door left ajar in his odd haste, and Buster sword held faithfully at his side like a companion. Low strings of sentences left his mouth, yet were too quiet for her to discern beneath the wrench of his blade against the floor and the thumps of his iron-clad boots. 

"Cloud, what are you doing up this late?" Tifa questioned, approaching her friend with light steps and wringing hands. "You know we have a mission tomorrow, you need your sleep." 

Her words might as well have been the hand placed on his shoulder for all that he remained unaware, continuing his sluggish trek away. A pit of ice settled in her stomach, his lack of recognition calling back to their reunion just a few nights ago. Despite their proximity, he was once again worlds away from her. 

"Cloud, c'mon, where are you even going at this hour?" At that, his head raised towards the plate. 

Green, glowing eyes settled on the central tower without a word and without a pause in his gait. Despite the gaze being aimed away from her, Tifa couldn't suppress the shudder that wracked her frame at seeing those eyes in a friend's face. Though the night's chill and fear's icy grasp held her still, that green brought her back to that fateful fire. 

Her nails dug into Cloud's bare shoulder without thought, yet neither of them noticed. 

"Mother," his murmur pulled her forward, away from the smothering heat and acid green. A shaky breath left her and she snapped the seam of her gloves to her wrists; a habit meant to ground her on dark nights. 

"She's not up there," she stated, the cracking of her voice and the bite on her lips betraying the finality of her words. Yet, it proved enough for Cloud as he maneuvered easily enough under her guidance. "Let's get you back to bed, okay?" 

Although still off and green-eyed, he put up no resistance to her lead, as though he had fallen back into his role of the perfect soldier. Pliant under her instruction, he relinquished his blade and armor with only minor hesitation. Eventually, with the lull of a low Nibel lullaby, the green glow was smothered beneath relaxed lids. The tension in her shoulders disappeared along with his gaze, and the weight of her encounter left with a staggering breath. 

Despite her lethargy, she paused a few moments to return to her room, attempting to reconcile the strange turn her night had taken. 

"Good night," Tifa whispered with a quiet click of Cloud's door. When tentatively asked the next morning if he had slept well, Cloud simply stated that he had a dreamless night. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

His awakening was a slow thing, calm, warm, and sedate. He had fallen asleep with his good arm wrapped around his darling Marlene, large hand lost in the strands of her hair. He worked slowly and gently to unravel the brown locks without disturbing her, before laying a soft kiss to her temple.

Even in his freshly-awoken state, a grin lit his features at the sight of her. 

He muffled a bellowing yawn, knowing both her and the other tenant of the room needed their rest. Yet, when he glanced over to the door of Aeris' room, Cloud was nowhere to be seen, his sword and armor missing as well. 

Barret couldn't stifle the exasperated huff that jerked out of him at seeing the elusive Ex-Soldier defying his expectations once again. A hand dragged down his face before he resolutely clicked his tongue and untangled himself from beneath Marlene, careful of the clink of his prosthetic. He risked another peck to her brow before going off in search of the errant Soldier boy. 

His steps echoed various creaks of the floorboards and whines of the wood back at him. He tread as lightly and as quietly as possible down the stairs, his gait slow and measured. The open doorway at the bottom of the stairs was pouring in moonlight from the gaps in the plate, as though a beacon signalling where Cloud passed. He swept through and closed the door behind him, flinching at the loud screech of incensed wood on wood. 

"Now, where could that kid be?" Barret questioned to himself, a fatigued sigh escaping with his words. He eyed the state of Aeris' flowers surrounding the house and quickly spotted a nonchalant trail of crushed stems and punctured leaves leading to the entrance. He huffed a tad irritably, as Cloud had scolded him just earlier that day for accidentally stepping on a patch of daisies. 

"Who's the noble hot shot, now?" He barked under his breath with a roll of the eyes, following the trail safely from the dirt path. A thin, unstable line was dug into the ground next to the destroyed greenery, as though the Soldier had been dragging his giant blade behind him.

With that odd observation in mind, a rising scratch soon met his ears as he neared the entrance to Aeris' home. The Buster sword was burrowing into the wooden steps with a lazy grate, as the one holding it lurched forward haltingly. Despite his enhanced senses, Cloud did not appear to pick up on Barret's presence, continuing his off-putting march without a breath or a blink.

"Just what the hell are you doin' out here?" he asked, moving to stand in the Soldier boy's way, arms crossed and stance unyielding. 

Cloud did not seem to pay him any mind, still moving forward as though no obstacle suddenly asserted itself in front of him. His green gaze was trained ahead, no expression or recognition playing upon his features. Barret would almost think him a specter if not for the continued shriek of the Buster through wood.

"And just where are you goin' so early in the morning, Soldier boy?" The Ex-Soldier raised his head and seemingly looked through him to stare at the plate above. He refused to admit it, but the empty gaze searing past him was unnerving. A trickle of cold settled down his spine. 

"Reunion," Cloud uttered underneath the thuds of his steps and the huffs of Barret's heated breaths, barely audible. Tired and irritated, a biting laugh escaped him.

"What, you're just gonna go meet up with your fellow mutts at three in the morning?" he exclaimed more than questioned, his following chuckles laced with venom. He waited for the results of his badgering; a bristle of the shoulders, a turn of the brows, a clenching of fists, yet none came. Only silence answered. 

The quiet was much worse than the usual sniping the Soldier would have responded with. It was as though Cloud had not heard a word, blank gaze once again fixed ahead of him and unsteady gait continuing down an unseen path. 

The chill down his spine settled firmly in his gut, coiling in his stomach like a snake. He tried to release its grip with a battered sigh.

"Listen...just come on back to the house, boy," Barret wrapped his good arm around thin shoulders and turned them back towards the garden. It was a small but triumphant victory to see Cloud aim that unfocused stride towards Aeris' house, instead. "We'll get her back tomorrow, no need to go gallivanting off on your own."

Although it took more time than he would have liked to maneuver the Soldier inside without his blade tearing up the floorboards, his lips rose in a satisfied grin at seeing the man slump next to his daughter in a peaceful, undisturbed sleep. 

However odd and frankly unsettling that exchange was, he figured Shinra and whatever it did to the Ex-Soldier next to him could wait until tomorrow. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He was absolutely dumbfounded by the humans he found himself surrounded with. Although he had swiftly learned through combat that he could trust his companions to watch his back, he had no idea what to think of them, personally. 

Especially the one called Cloud. 

After assisting Barret with carrying the curious Ex-Soldier to Aeris' former cell, he eventually had fallen asleep along with the others, flame huddled close and legs tucked underneath in a position the girls had laughingly dubbed "loafing." It was hours later when Cloud had risen stealthily - almost so quietly that he hadn't heard - and exited the cell without a glance back. 

Interested rather than fearful, Red XIII rose to follow from a distance, tail swishing in curiosity and jewelry clinking lightly. He stepped delicately past the jumbled form of the sleeping girls, careful that his flame did not linger close enough to wake them. He prowled quickly once the cell door closed behind him, unbothered by the possibility of Cloud noticing him. 

The slap of his paws against the steel flooring echoed against the hallway and his jewelry's song was all too clear in the quiet of the night. He did not care for stealth when it was near inevitable that he would be heard. Yet, for all that he found obvious and loud in his own gait, the Ex-Soldier continued his own without looking back or seemingly hearing Red XIII. 

"Where are you headed?" he asked simply with a snap of his jaw, moving to walk beside the lumbering man. Cloud, for all his quiet stoicism and unexpected leadership, was not one to ignore the call of his companions. However, Red XIII's question met empty air and faltered into silence. 

Curiosity heightened, he decided a different approach may prove more successful.

"I do not know how exactly Soldiers are enhanced, but do they not need to blink as much as other humans, Cloud?" he needled, hoping the question would at least reward him with an exasperated glance or a hint of a tired laugh. He was gifted with neither. Instead, oddly green eyes with inhuman slits focused ahead, as though nothing else existed around him.

His ear twitched and he flicked his flame woodenly behind him, childish irritation welling up for a moment. He did not have long to dwell in his disappointment, as the cell door swished open behind them once more. Aeris, with sleep in her eyes and a spare blanket around her shoulders, barrelled through the doorway. 

"He's doing it again, huh?" she questioned softly, seemingly to herself. She noticed Red XIII a moment later and waved to him with a flustered smile. She scratched that spot behind his ear below his piercing that he could never seem to reach, and hunched conspiratorially next to him. "How are you doing, Red?"

"I am fine, Aeris. Just curious about our missing member," he answered with a smirk full of teeth and mischief. He flicked his flame towards her playfully, yet not close enough to burn, and let out a howling yawn. "So, he does this often?"

She looked away from the staggering Cloud and towards him with those piercing eyes so quickly he had to restrain a flinch. 

"Huh? What do you mean?" 

"You said 'he's doing it again.' Does Cloud go into this state often?" Upon meeting his gaze, she stood back up and glanced away, fidgeting with the hem of the blanket around her. She hesitated but a moment before moving to wrap the blanket around the Ex-Soldier's shoulders. He didn't seem to notice.

"You always have such good ears, Red?" she commented more to herself than to him, flashing him a fond grin. She positioned Cloud's hand to hold the blanket securely around himself and began turning him back towards the cell. His hand stayed where she had molded it, like a doll fulfilling a child's wish. "Yeah, he slips into this sometimes. He just needs a little help going back to bed."

Her smile shifted into one of familiarity and routine, guiding Cloud back to the room with knowing nudges at his sides and sweet nothings in his ears. 

"What is he looking for when he's like this?" despite the delicacy of the moment, he couldn't quell the question from bursting inside of him. Humans were odd, of course, but this was off even for them. 

"Something we're not meant to know," she responded vaguely, not at all an answer to his question. Her smile shifted further, guilty and weighted. Despite her cheer and grin, her stature slouched and she appeared as tired as Red XIII was feeling. 

He nudged the hand holding the Buster sword with his head, a small affectionate brush that Cloud may not have even felt, yet he found worthwhile performing, anyways. The hand moved forward limply and stayed where he had bumped it, but he paid this no heed.

"Don't mention this to him, tomorrow, okay?" Aeris asked, yet it echoed like an order. A glance in her direction rewarded him with another knowledgeable smile that didn't quite meet her eyes. He appreciated the effort, regardless, and offered one of his own unsightly grins. 

"It will be our little secret," Red XIII stated as the cell door swished open. Although his curiosity regarding Cloud specifically was not sated, he figured he had gained a bit more knowledge, regardless. 


End file.
